''Pélagie'' is a Canadian

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

written by Allen Cole and Vincent de Tourdonnet. It is based on the 1979 novel ''Pélagie-la-Charette'' ( fr) by

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

writer

Antonine Maillet Antonine Maillet (10 May 1929 – 17 February 2025) was an Acadian novelist, playwright and scholar. Early life and education Maillet was born on 10 May 1929 in Bouctouche, New Brunswick"Antonine Maillet." ''Paroles d'Acadie : Anthologie de ...

. It is about the Acadian widow Pélagie LeBlanc who in the late 1770s led her Acadian people back to Grand Pré from the American South, where they had been deported in 1755.

Productions

The play was first produced in 2004 by

CanStage Canadian Stage is a Canadian Nonprofit organization, non-profit contemporary theatre company, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History The company was founded in 1988 with the merger of Centre Stage and Toronto Free Theatre. Canadian Stage ...

in Toronto and the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

in Ottawa and starred Susan Gilmour as Pélagie and Rejean Cournoyer as Joseph Beausoleil. A second production, in English and French, starring Marie Denise Pelletier and Rejean Cournoyer toured Canada's Maritime provinces, ended in Quebec in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelagie 2004 plays Canadian plays